Analyzing Utah Jazz’s Biggest Draft Needs
The Utah Jazz are at the beginning of a monumentally important offseason for the state of the franchise. However, with two first-round draft picks and tons of cap space, they are set up to make this offseason a productive one.
Utah has roughly $25.6 million committed to the roster next season. After that, the following season the team has only $1.75 million committed to rarely used forward Jeremy Evans. No other player has a guaranteed contract for 2014-15.
Other than Evans, the team has options on building blocks Enes Kanter, Derrick Favors, Alec Burks and Gordon Hayward. The four represent an ushering of a new era of Utah Jazz basketball. As of now, they are the cornerstones that are the future of this team.
Four of the five positions are filled by that group moving forward. None of the team’s point guards are under contract next season, leaving the team clamoring for a franchise player in the backcourt. Mo Williams, Jamaal Tinsley and Earl Watson all could potentially be moving on next season, and in order to turn this group into a cohesive unit, they need a player to guide them.
The Salt Lake Tribune‘s Steve Luhm recently reported that the team has held a pre-draft workout for a number of point guards, including South Dakota State’s Nate Wolters and Myck Kabongo from Texas.
“Utah does need a point guard, and everybody is aware of that,” Kabongo said. “I’m excited to come out here. Obviously the history with John Stockton is here. And a lot of other great guards have come through. So it’s a pleasure to be here.”
In addition to the 21st pick in the first round, the Jazz also have a lottery pick. Since Utah barely missed the playoffs, it has almost no chance of winning the first pick and will likely be picking around 14th.
Mo Williams averaged 6.2 assists per game this past season. Earl Watson and Jamaal Tinsley both averaged over four assists a game as well but were offensive liabilities for the most part. They combined to score only 5.5 points per game while each shooting well under 40 percent from the field.
Other areas where Utah could stand to improve is from beyond the arc. Only Chicago and Memphis shot fewer threes than Utah did last season.
Aside from Gordon Hayward, Mo Williams and Randy Foye are the squad’s only three-point threats. Both are free agents, and if either or both leaves, they take with them a huge part of the offense. Foye made over a third of the Jazz’s three-pointers this season, canning a career-high 178 while playing in all 82 games.
NBADraft.net currently has Utah slated to select Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out of Georgia at 14 and Tim Hardaway Jr. from Michigan at 21. Both are off-ball guards and cannot handle the ball very well, so it would be difficult to see both these picks coming to fruition unless the team re-signs Mo Williams.
Regardless, this group needs backcourt depth and talent desperately. Picking a guard with each of their first-round picks would be advantageous of them since their frontcourt is set. Even if Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap both jump ship, Kanter and Favors are more than ready to start. Addressing frontcourt depth is an option the Jazz can explore with their second-round pick.
Thinking outside the box, Utah may be willing to package its two first-rounders in order to move up. There are plenty of guards near the top of the first round. Trey Burke and Michael Carter-Williams will almost assuredly be gone by the time the Jazz are picking, unless they can get lucky in the draft lottery.
The bottom line is that Utah needs guard help in this draft. It specifically needs to address passing, outside shooting and leadership and must make sure that whoever it comes out of the draft with is capable of doing these things.
Past drafts have been kind to the Jazz, as they have come out with Kanter, Hayward and Burks in recent years. They are one good draft away from being a very young, exciting team that can mesh together and eventually be a substantial threat to the rest of the Western Conference.
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Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers still fighting to stay alive.
Heading into the final day of the NBA’s regular season, both the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers are still facing elimination from the post-season.
The scenarios that can play out are as follows.
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How the Utah Jazz Could Beat the Memphis Grizzlies and Secure a Playoff Spot
There’s one game left in the season for both the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Lakers, and the fight for the final spot in the Western Conference playoff race is going down to the final game of the regular season.
The Jazz’s final game is against the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that they’ve lost to in two of three regular season meetings so far. Since they own the tiebreaker against the Lakers, they will have to hope that they lose to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday as well.
In order for the Jazz to secure the eighth seed, they will need to play a near-perfect ballgame to defeat one of the best teams in the Western Conference and hope the Lakers stumble to a loss.
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Video: Russell Westbrook throws down on the Utah Jazz
Russell Westbrook is a walking big play.
When the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard took these points to the hole, he did not posterize one individual he shamed every opponent that ducked when he came into the paint.
Please click here to watch this video.
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Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Utah Jazz 4/9/13: Video Highlights and Recap
Currently engrossed in a huge playoff battle with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Utah Jazz played one of their biggest remaining games of the season when they took on the Oklahoma City Thunder at home.
The Thunder came into this one as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, but pushing for the No. 1 overall seed as they sat just one game behind the San Antonio Spurs. The Jazz, on the other hand, sat just one game inside the Lakers in eighth spot, although they do have a game in hand.
Either way, it was shaping as a huge playoff game for both teams that was going to have profound impacts on the Western Conference one way or another.
Let’s take a look how the Jazz fared at home to the Thunder.
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Thunder vs. Jazz: How Utah Can Top OKC and Keep Final Playoff Spot in West
On Tuesday, the Utah Jazz will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in Salt Lake City, and both teams have a lot to play for. With a record of 56-21, the Thunder leads the Northwest Division over the Denver Nuggets by three games. However, OKC lags a single game behind the San Antonio Spurs for the top spot in the West after a loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday.
The Thunder has five regular season games left to pass the Spurs and gain home-court advantage for the playoffs. While OKC is playing for the top spot in the Western Conference, the Utah Jazz is fighting to keep the West’s last spot in the playoffs.
Currently, the Jazz is one-half game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the eighth spot with a record of 41-37. With four games left in the regular season, Utah needs a win Tuesday over Oklahoma City pretty badly.
If Utah wants to top OKC, though, the Jazz players need to contest Oklahoma City stars Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Jazz guard Mo Williams will matchup with Westbrook at the guard position. After missing time for thumb surgery, Williams looks strong. He led the team in scoring on Sunday with 25 points during Utah’s 97-90 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
In six of Utah’s last 18 games, Williams totaled 20 or more points. However, Williams needs to do more than score points against Westbrook. He needs to keep up with the speedy OKC guard, play Westbrook hard on defense and keep his assists up.
For the 2012-13 season, Westbrook is averaging an impressive 23.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 7.6 assists in 35.3 minutes per game. Williams will certainly have his work cut out for him on Tuesday.
And then there’s Oklahoma City small forward Kevin Durant, who averages 28.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 38.7 minutes of game play. The Jazz will have more trouble controlling Durant, with Utah’s Gordon Hayward relatively new to the small forward position.
Hayward played well on Friday, April 5 during the Jazz’s 95-83 win over New Orleans. He finished with 23 points but only grabbed two rebounds and one assist. He was slightly better against Golden State on Sunday, totaling three rebounds and six assists. Nevertheless, in order to contest Durant, Hayward needs to get more boards.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Utah coach Tyrone Corbin said of the team’s win over Golden State on Sunday, “This was all about them and them wanting it, and the way they came out. Although we made some mistakes in the game, everybody laid everything they had in them out there on the floor.”
There’s no question that Tuesday’s game against OKC will be about the Jazz “wanting it.” Oklahoma City has won seven of the last nine contests against the Jazz, but if Utah can control Westbrook and Durant and Williams has another stellar game, the Jazz may be able to come out on top.
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Jazz vs. Nuggets: Utah Players Who Must Step Up with Playoffs on Line
The Utah Jazz play host to the Denver Nuggets Wednesday night. The Jazz are currently tied for the eighth and final seed in the Western Conference with the Los Angeles Lakers, but they hold the tie-breaker.
With the Nuggets holding on to the third seed in the West, this is a gut-check game for the Jazz, and one that they could really use a win in.
For that to happen, there are two players that must step up in order to beat the Nuggets.
Mo Williams, PG
With Nuggets’ point guard Ty Lawson reportedly out for a few weeks with a foot injury, Mo Williams has a chance to step up for the Jazz. Andre Miller is the primary backup to Lawson, so that’s who Williams will be primarily matched up against.
Williams is currently averaging just over 12 points and six assists per game. Not gaudy numbers by any means, but numbers that should improve with the absence of Lawson.
Teams that want to make late playoff pushes must have solid play at the point guard position. If the Jazz want to put distance between themselves and the Lakers, Williams will have to step up, not just against the Nuggets but for the rest of the season.
Paul Millsap, PF
With Lawson out, expect the Nuggets to look inside more to take the pressure off the guards. That means more touches will be going to Kenneth Faried, who Millsap will be guarding down low.
Millsap is the better scorer of the two, averaging nearly 15 points per game, compared to Faried‘s 11.7. However, Faried pulls down nearly two more rebounds per game than Millsap, with the two averaging 9.2 and 7.2 rebounds a game, respectively.
However, each time these two have faced each other this season, Faried has gotten the better of Millsap. The Nuggets are 2-1 this year against the Jazz. Faried averages 18 points per game against the Jazz, compared to Millsap who only averages 10 against the Nuggets.
Millsap has established himself as a quality power forward in the NBA. But when the big boys like Denver come into town, he has to solidify that reputation with solid play. And with the playoffs hanging in the balance, there hasn’t been a better time for Millsap to step up and have a big game.
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Should the Utah Jazz Call It Quits This Season?
No team would want to forfeit the rest of their season, especially if it’s a team like the Utah Jazz—who still have a shot at securing the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
However, being a middle-of-the-pack team in the NBA is probably the worst. A team should be either contending for a title, or rebuilding around young players, not fighting for the eighth spot in the playoffs and then get swept again like last year.
The Jazz are lucky that they’ve been able to stockpile a handful of young prospects over the last few years, because all of the young players on the team could play when they’re given the opportunity to demonstrate their talent.
With the season concluding and the Jazz are still struggling to reach that eighth seed, maybe it’s best to just look towards the future right now.
Developing the Youth
Although the younger players on the team—Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Alec Burks and Gordon Hayward—have seen their share of minutes this season, none of them are registering consistent minutes other than Hayward.
Favors is sitting at just under 23 minutes per game, while Kanter and Burks both average less than 19 minutes per contest.
There are still 11 games left in the Jazz’s season, and the team could use this time to give the younger players more experience, because they are the ones who are going to be with the franchise for the long haul, not Paul Millsap or Al Jefferson.
Eleven games may not seem much, but it could help prepare the youth movement for next season, where the four aforementioned players should expect to see a spike in their number of minutes.
By giving the youngster more playing time, the organization could evaluate which young players show the most promise and decide to keep them for their future rebuilding efforts.
Millsap and Jefferson Cannot Lead this Team Further
Millsap and Jefferson are just 27 and 28 years old, respectively. However, they’ve already illustrated their potential a few years ago, and they won’t improve much more from here on out.
Although veteran and leadership qualities may improve with age, their games aren’t going to dramatically change from now and until the end of their career. They’re both great players and borderline All-Stars, but that’s all they’ll ever be.
They won’t be able to carry this team further than being a fringe playoff contender.
The Jazz added some decent pieces to the team like Mo Williams and Randy Foye last offseason, but they aren’t players who could push a team into contender status. In fact, the Jazz are right where they were last year.
What’s the point of making it into the playoffs as an eighth seed and then get beaten down by one of the Western Conference elites again? They won’t be able to prove anything, and it’s unlikely that the Jazz could compete at all with Millsap and Jefferson as their two best players at the helm.
The season is basically over, and the Jazz are expected to increase the playing time of their young players if Millsap and Jefferson leave in free agency. But maybe the team should give them a chance right now, and see if they could help boost this team into the playoffs.
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Utah Jazz: 3 Players Who Must Be Gone Before Next Season
Ever since the Utah Jazz traded Deron Williams to the then-New Jersey Nets, they have been a middle-of-the-pack team with pocketfuls of youthful talent waiting for their opportunity to shine.
They have been contending for that eighth spot in the Western Conference for the past three seasons, and that’s all that they could do with their current team. Even if they do secure the eighth seed, how meaningful would it be if they just get swept in the first round again?
This slideshow will list three players that the Jazz must let go during the coming offseason in order for this team to take a step towards prominence.
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What Is Gordon Hayward’s Ceiling for the Utah Jazz?
In the midst of a precipitous Jazz spiral that probably will knock them out of playoff contention, it gives Jazz fans some small measure of solace to look to the blindingly bright future of the franchise.
With a young and talented core on the roster and two more first-round draft picks coming their way in June, there is plenty to get excited about.
Just not this year.
A key component of the so-called “Core Four” is former Butler Bulldog Gordon Hayward. What better time to analyze Hayward’s game and opine on his ceiling than today, his 23rd birthday?
Hayward is a smart basketball player with a high motor. He utilizes his length and speed to wreak havoc on the defensive end, deflecting passes at a rate maddening to opponents. Hayward has also perfected the beautiful art of the chase down block.
Offensively, Hayward is as or more impressive than on the defensive end.
He could be the best passer Utah has, which may speak as much of Utah’s pitiful point guard position as it does Hayward’s skills. Of course Hayward is a versatile scorer that can take it to the bucket, but is he also dangerous from long range.
Thanks to a Randy Foye shooting slump, Hayward leads the Jazz in three-point field goal percentage at 41 percent. This season, Hayward is averaging a career-high 14.4 points-per-game and has been effective as a starter and in a bench role.
With Hayward’s diverse skill set, it’s clear to see that Jazz fans’ draft night disapproval of him has quickly turned into near-universal admiration. It’s clear Hayward’s future with the Jazz is bright.
But how bright can it be? Is Hayward destined for multiple All-Star selections, or is his destiny to be a perennial complimentary player?
Call me an eternal optimist/unapologetic Jazz homer, but I think Hayward has All-Star games in his future.
What brought me to this conclusion is not my obsessive love for Utah and for Hayward nor was it his many strengths. It was actually his weaknesses.
Despite what many young and female Jazz fans that swoon each time Hayward busts out his trademark shy smile will tell you, Hayward is not perfect. At 6’8″ and a svelte 207 pounds, he can run into trouble trying to defend a bigger, heavier small forward in the post. Hayward could afford to add a moderate amount of muscle mass. He also has a bad habit of blindly driving the lane and leaving his feet before having an escape plan if the basket is well defended.
Last but not least, Hayward sporadically appears to deal with confidence issues. An off night or a streak of poor shooting can visibly unsettle Hayward to the point where he will pass up an open shot. He can occasionally show a little bit of fire on the court, but this is inconsistent at best.
My optimism with Hayward becoming an All-Star lies in the relative ease in which each of these issues can be fixed, especially by someone with a high basketball IQ and a more than respectable work ethic.
Hayward’s blind-driving tendency has already been noticeably improved. Hayward has added a mid-drive step back jumper to his repertoire and has seemed more confident as of late in his jumpers. As these problems shrink and eventually disappear, his confidence level can’t help but improve.
As Hayward becomes more consistently productive, he will become more trusting of his instincts and more confident by proxy.
Gordon Hayward’s basketball intelligence, consistent tenacity and well-rounded game make at least one All-Star appearance more than likely for the birthday boy.
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